GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS, Colo.—A disgruntled driver who retaliated for a traffic ticket by setting fire to the town hall in Green Mountain Falls has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Gazette reports that 22-year Zacharia Garrison Shaffer got the stiffest penalty possible for orchestrating the February arson ( http://bit.ly/Q6n1yu). The century-old town hall was destroyed.

Shaffer pleaded guilty in September to first-degree arson. A co-defendant accused of helping set the fire awaits a January trial.

According to text messages sent from his phone, Shaffer was angered by a summons to appear in Green Mountain Falls on a traffic matter, where he expected to face fines. He wrote to a childhood friend, “That place is going down.” Shaffer and his co-defendant both suffered burns in the arson.

The Denver Art Museum plans to funnel a $25 million one-time gift into the estimated $150 million budget for renovating its iconic North Building in time for the structure’s 50th anniversary in 2021, officials announced Thursday.